Nigeria needs soft power approach to insecurity – Hagher

Former Nigeria Ambassador to Canada, Professor Iyorwuese Hagher, has called on Nigerians to employ the use of soft power approach in the battle against insecurity.
He said, putting up high boots by soldiers or policemen to places of conflicts was not the best way of resolving issues of insecurity.

Ambassador Hagher, who spoke in an interview with newsmen Sunday in Makurdi,  pointed out that most of the conflicts today in the world are best resolved by peaceful approach and not only by war.

He said: “Boko Haram insurgency for instance requires a soft power approach; information gathering and use of technology and right collection tools and to win the minds of people in conflict rather than “crush them. Every act of violence generates counter violence”.

Hagher who was presidential aspirant on the platform of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the 2019 general election, said most quarrels could only be resolved through amicable settlement and other resolution mechanisms.

“We need all communities to rally round the stakeholders to take a decision that enough is enough. War, violence and conflict are not sustainable.

“If a country wants to develop, the first requirement is peace and building of security architecture that involves diplomacy rather than bullets. 

“The first antidote for elimination of conflicts is to have educated citizenry, who tend to be more liberal and less in ethnic diversity,” he stated.